JERICHO, N.Y. -- In the wake of announcing its first sale-leaseback deal since 2011, David Driscoll of Getty Realty Corp. said the attractive metropolitan New York and Washington, D.C., transactions bode well for Getty's future, saying the company is on steady footing and interested in growth with no regional restrictions.
"We're open for business and interested in acquiring gas properties to lease to distributors and jobbers," Getty Realty's president and CEO told CSP Daily News. "[Sale-leaseback] is a steady business. More and more people are realizing the benefits as they go through capital cycles."
Looking at the broader retail landscape, Driscoll said very few traditional retailers own their own real estate. "Why should this industry be any different?" he asked. "As the business consolidates, the capital tied up in real estate can go to better use in operations," he said.
For much of 2012, Getty Realty had been rebounding from the bankruptcy of Getty Petroleum Marketing Inc. (GPMI), a separate company, which involved leases for 800 gas stations and other properties. As reported in CSP Daily News, Getty Realty secured new leases for about 450 sites and arranged to sell others in groupings over the past few months.
Earlier this week, Getty Realty announced it acquired 36 properties located in the New York and Washington, D.C., Beltway regions for approximately $72.5 million in two sale-leaseback transactions with Capitol Petroleum Group LLC, Springfield, Va. The acquisition included 16 Mobil-branded properties in metro New York, and 13 Exxon-branded and seven Shell-branded properties within the Washington, D.C., Beltway. All of the sites included in the acquisition are high-volume locations that serve high-density population centers.
"We are excited to complete our first portfolio acquisition since 2011. Building on our increased stability and utilizing our strengthened financial position, we completed the acquisition of 36 high quality Exxon-Mobil and Shell properties in highly desirable metro New York and Washington, D.C. Beltway markets," Driscoll said in announcing the transactions. "We are also pleased to expand our relationship with Capitol, a long-term tenant, which has a proven history of delivering reliable performance. With the accretive addition of these properties and the ongoing repositioning of our legacy portfolio, we believe that Getty has fortified its ability to generate additional cash flow for shareholders in the coming years."
The 36 properties were acquired by Getty from, and simultaneously leased back to, subsidiaries of Capitol in two sale-leaseback transactions under long-term, triple-net, unitary leases having initial terms of 15 years plus three renewal options. Getty expects to receive approximately $6.1 million of annualized revenue from the investment.
Getty Realty is a leading publicly traded U.S. real-estate investment trust (REIT) specializing in ownership, leasing and financing of convenience store and gas station properties. The Jericho, N.Y.-based company owns and leases approximately 1,050 properties nationwide.
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